Tag Archives: texture

Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Reyes Beach, Sunset

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Point Reyes Beach, Sunset
Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes Beach near the lighthouse at sunset, with yellow lupine carpeting the bluffs above the cliffs.

I had hoped to get some photographs of the wonderful fields of yellow lupine at the top of this bluff, but I was stymied by the tremendous winds buffeting Point Reyes. I do have photographs of this scene that show the flowers more clearly, but many of them are blurred from being blown by the wind.

keywords: california, national park, pacific ocean, spring, point reyes, beach, surf, waves, sand, haze, mist, cliff, nature, yellow, lupine, grass, texture, sunset, evening, seascape, landscape, tourism, scenic, travel, stock, usa, national seashore

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Plants and Rock, Goat Rock

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Plants and Rock, Goat Rock
Plants and Rock, Goat Rock. Castle Rock State Park, California. April 19, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small cluster of spring plants comes to life in a crack in Goat Rock at Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Central California.

This is another brief change of pace from the Death Valley photographs. I hike at Castle Rock State Park (the local version – it is a common park name!) quite a bit, especially in the spring at the end of the California rainy season when the new vegetation is starting to emerge. On this day I had gone out to photograph spring foliage, but the light was not quite what I expected – overcast and rather windy rather than the hoped-for sunny spring day.

keywords: new, growth, green, leaves, leaf, stem, plant, brown, nature, rock, lichen, spring, goat rock, castle rock, state, park, california, santa cruz, mountains, usa, color, photo, photography, stock, texture

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Building Detail, Bodie

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Building Detail, Bodie
Building Detail, Bodie
“Building Detail, Bodie” — An old building in the Bodie ghost town.

Yes, there really is snow falling in this photo. You might be able to see it a bit if you click on the thumbnail to see the somewhat larger size. I was caught – somewhat pleasantly – by surprise when I encountered this rather cold weather at the end of May in 2006.

Update 2025: Bodie is a large ghost town east of the Sierra Nevada that is a California State park. The place is maintained in state of arrested decay — not restored to be like new, but not allowed to decay and disappear like typical ghost towns. It is located in pretty tough country — the sagebrush desert of the western edge of Basin and Range territory. It can be very hot and dry out here in the summer, but it is also one of the coldest places in the West in the winter. On this visit I caught a surprise late-season light snowfall.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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